dittodat

uk plastic for recycling dumped and burned in turkey - bbc news

is the belief that the world was created by god out of nothing, as described in the bible

eddie rickenbacker was a businessman and race car driver before he joined the american expeditionary force (aef) to fly combat planes in france. he was america's top "ace" in the aef because of his 26 "scores"-enemy planes he shot down. rickenbacker received both the french croix de guerre award and the congressional medal of honor.

on a hunting trip in 1902, theodore roosevelt refused to shoot a bear cub. reporters made a big story out of it, and an editorial cartoonist drew a picture of the incident. morris michton, a store owner in brooklyn, new york—or his wife-heard about this incident and got the idea of making a cuddly stuffed animal that the michtons named the "teddy bear." the bears were a hit.

theodore roosevelt was born to a wealthy new york family that traced its roots back to the dutch colonial era. weak and sickly as a boy, he became devoted to physical fitness as a man.

after serving as police commissioner of new york city, assistant secretary of the navy, and hero of the spanish american war, he became governor of new york. in 1900, republican leaders nominated him to run for vice president-usually an unimportant position-with presidential candidate mckinley, to keep him quiet.

roosevelt was an active and popular president, and at 42, the youngest man to serve in the office. he said the presidency provided a "bully pulpit" that allowed him to air his views, using his personality to force the government to take responsibility. senator la follette may have summed him up best by saying that "roosevelt made reform respectable in the united states."

(see: teddy bear)

mark twain was the pen name of samuel mclemens, a writer and humorist whose works helped create an american literary style. his novels, short stories, and memoirs dealt with politics, racism, and national identity. twain was raised in hannibal, missouri, and used the mississippi river of his youth as a setting in his two most famous novels, the adventures of tom sawyer and the adventures of huckleberry finn.

thomas edison was the most famous inventor during the great age of invention. in his lifetime, he was granted 1,093 patents. his inventions included a telegraph that would send and receive messages simultaneously over the same line; a transmitter for bell's telephone; the phonograph; the incandescent light bulb; the mimeograph machine; waxed paper; and the basic system for making motion pictures.

working at his laboratory in menlo park, new jersey, edison worked long hours, slept little, talked to himself, and became lost in his work. in fact, on his wedding night, he forgot about his bride and went back to his lab to work out a problem.

in 1874, the discovery of gold in the black hills of dakota sent thousands of gold seekers through sacred sioux lands. war parties responded by raiding white settlements. after two years of warfare, a group of sioux and cheyenne warriors confronted a u.s. cavalry column at the little bighorn river in montana territory. instead of waiting for reinforcements, general george a. custer led his 264 troopers into battle. they were surrounded, and every last man, including custer, was killed.

the battle of the little bighorn was the indians' greatest victory, but it was also their last. by 1881, all the plains tribes had been forced to move to reservations.

from 1860 to 1862, the pony express operated as a mail service between san francisco, california, and st. joseph, missouri, with the u.s. postal service carrying the mail east from there. people were captivated by the image of brave riders speeding alone across the landscape, leaping onto fresh horses at every 10-mile station until they had completed their 200 miles. the pony express was fast - it took only eight days to get a letter to san francisco but it was stopped when the first transcontinental telegraph line was completed in 1862.

thomas nast was a 20-year-old german immigrant when the civil war began. he first became famous as an artist for harper's weekly with a drawing called "emancipation," which showed what life might be like for freed slaves. but nast is most remembered for his later work. from the mid-1860s to the 1880s, nast drew editorial cartoons to attack political corruption. he also created the elephant symbol for the republican party and the democrats' donkey. and it was nast's drawings of santa claus as the jolly, red-suited figure handing out gifts from his sleigh that gave the world the modern image we know today.

lincoln personally opposed slavery, but he insisted that the civil war was being fought to preserve the union, not abolish slavery. the emancipation proclamation, issued in january 1863, was lincoln's official declaration of freedom, or emancipation, for slaves in the confederacy. it was meant to satisfy abolitionists who pressured lincoln to make ending slavery a goal of the war. it was also a strategic move to help the north win the war—the south had an advantage, since the confederates could force slaves to help the war effort.

ultimately, the document was more a symbolic than an actual end to slavery, since the union could not force the rebellious southern states to free slaves, and it did not pertain to slaves in border states loyal to the union, such as maryland and kentucky. the thirteenth amendment to the constitution freed the remaining slaves.

(see: abraham lincoln)

jefferson davis had served as congressman, senator, and secretary of war in the u.s. government. after the 1860 presidential election, he hoped southerners would accept lincoln as their leader. but when his own state of mississippi joined six others in forming the confederacy and chose him as president, davis felt obligated to serve.

(see: #643)

in 1857, northerners who opposed slavery received another shock when the supreme court ruled against a slave named dred scott who was suing for his freedom. scott's owners had brought him with them from the south to a northern free state to live. the court declared that it did not matter whether scott lived in a slave state or a free state, because slaves were property and owners could take their property wherever they pleased.

most southerners were happy with the ruling, which meant that slavery could be extended into any territory, whether voters approved of it or not.

dred scott and his family, pictured in a newspaper article about the case. image

on october 16, 1859, a wild-eyed abolitionist named john brown led a small band of men in a raid on a federal arsenal at harpers ferry, west virginia. brown, who had fought against pro-slavers in kansas a few years earlier, planned to use the arsenal's weapons to arm a great slave rebellion. the raid was quickly stopped by the army and militia under colonel robert e. lee. brown and six others were tried, convicted, and executed. many northerners, while horrified by the violence, considered brown a martyr to the cause of freedom. southerners were worried because they feared the event was a sign that abolitionists were taking control of the north.